Today in TV History: ‘One Day at a Time’ Muddled Through Its Final Episode

Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.

IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: May 28, 1984

PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE:One Day at a Time,”Another Man’s Shoes” (Season 9, Episode 22).

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: One of the casualties of the current era of nearly-unlimited TV options is the idea of watching old TV shows in reruns because nothing else was on. No, that doesn’t sound all that great on its face, and yes I’m kind of the old man yelling at the cloud about this. I’m not saying things aren’t better on balance now, but there’s no denying we’ve lost something. And that something was watching One Day at a Time reruns as a kid even though it had been off the air for at least five years, like I did as a kid.

In general, One Day at a Time risks falling through our cultural cracks. It’s not remembered as reverently as Norman Lear’s other shows or The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It doesn’t quite have the kitsch appeal of ’80s shows like The Facts of Life. (The series finale, which aired 31 years ago today, was actually a failed back-door pilot for a spin-off for horny handyman Schnieder, the closest One Day at a Time came to the corny ’80s sitcom zeitgeist.) If it has any 1990s analogue, it might actually be Roseanne, a show which might also be in favor of being forgotten a decade or two down the road if Roseanne herself weren’t such an insistent pop culture presence.

The point is, One Day at a Time ran for nine seasons and 209 episodes! It’s easily one of CBS’s longest running sitcoms. It was a show about a single mother and her difficult daughters at a time when neither were very much in fashion on network TV. But the reason I’m writing about it today is because it had one of the best opening theme songs (another casualty of The Era We Live In!) of all time. If ever you feel like falling down a rabbit hole, do yourself a favor and watch all the One Day at a Time openings. Not only is the song a delightful ear-worm, but you’ll be surprised (particularly if you’re a Broadway fan) at the cast members who showed up to join Bonnie Franklin, Mackenzie Phillips, and Valerie Bertinelli.